Sharon business owners endorse Stop the Pipeline campaign

Thursday

Mar 23, 2017 at 11:23 AM

Canton and Sharon local business owners and concerned residents recently unveiled a list of over 450 local businesses endorsing the Stop the Pipeline campaign from across the state.The effort was spearheaded by a statewide coalition, Mass Power Forward, with simultaneous press conferences in Canton, Seekonk and Pittsfield. “When the pipeline came through my hometown, I was worried about my property rights and values,” said David Hazell of Sharon Optical. “Now that it is coming through the town I do business in, I am worried about the impact on my customers.” Endorsement forms signed by over 450 businesses called on Governor Baker to withdraw his support of new and expanded gas infrastructure and asked him to keep our state moving towards a path of competitive clean energy like appropriately sited wind and solar.Monica Mancuso of Canton, a resident whose home is in what is known as “the incineration zone” spoke about her family and what the pipeline would mean for her. “Pipelines like this not only disrupt our personal lives but they also destroy and pollute our local wetlands, our air and our climate. We can’t exploit our communities this way. We have to pour our efforts into alternative technology that can create and sustain energy without these devastating impacts and risks of ‘incineration,’” said Mancuso.The last five years has seen more than $8 billion dollars of proposed pipelines to built in the commonwealth, though much of it has stagnated after a financial scheme to have a public subsidy floundered in the legislature. Gas companies appear wary to make the financial investment without a steady public subsidy.Kevin Feeney, a member of Canton’s Board of Selectmen, also voiced his concerns. “I oppose the Spectra pipelines,” said Feeney. “I see nothing but evasiveness and lack of transparency from Spectra with respect to the disruptive impacts their project will have on Canton residents and businesses. I add my voice to the voices of other elected officials in the neighboring towns who oppose the pipelines.”Spectra energy’s Access Northeast project would include building new pipeline across dozens of communities from Canton to Medway to Shrewsbury, build a compressor station in Rehoboth and two large LNG tanks in Acushnet. This project was studied by Attorney General Maura Healey’s office and deemed unneeded and expensive.“Study after study has shown us that we don’t need the pipeline, that we can’t afford it,” said Bri McAlevey, of Sharon, one of the organizers of the Canton event. “So we say, why the risks? Why should we invest in something we don’t want and don’t need? We are pleased so many business owners agree with us.”From 2014 to 2016, Houston-based Kinder Morgan had proposed to build a 250-mile new pipeline that would cut a 50-foot path across over 30 municipalities from the Berkshires east to Dracut. The company canceled their proposal last May. Kinder Morgan is still pursuing its expansion in Sandisfield of the lower Berkshires.“We’ve been out talking to business owners, and they get it,” said Claire Miller from Toxics Action Center. “Obviously this list is just the tip of the iceberg of opposition to the new gas pipelines. From farms to realtors to auto-shops and more- I hope the governor hears these small business owner voices and stop supporting gas.”

Original content available for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons license, except where noted.
Sharon Advocate ~ 254 Second Ave., Needham, Massachusetts 02494 ~ Privacy Policy ~ Terms Of Service